The Diaries of Darren Shan
by clockwork-boosh
Summary: Summary: Darren Shan has just settled into his princely duties as a Vampire Prince, but just when he thought things couldn't get any weirder, a note and 12 books from the future tell otherwise. Join him, to change the future and read the past. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1  Introduction

**Reading The Diaries of Darren Shan**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the amazing Darren Shan's work, even though I wish I did3

**Warning: **If you haven't read all the books, there will be spoilers in here.

**A/N : I noticed no one had done a reading of the Darren Shan books, which kind of disappoints me, since they're awesome books! So I thought I'd do some!**

**Enjoy!**

**Voldie~x**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 - Surprises and a Introduction<strong>

It was about a year after I had been made a Vampire Prince. I was still getting used to it all. I mean, who would've thought that out of everyone it would be me, normal, well almost normal- just take away the whole 'being a half vampire, assistant to a vampire' away, and it's just me. Yet now I'm a vampire prince, cool right? Well half-vampire.

But back to what happened, I was just doing my normal duties, you know, sitting around in a big room, talking to some generals, when suddenly a bunch of books and a note come slamming down on my head. I didn't scream like a girl or anything, men don''t scream..okay? But man, the speed those guards moved was like 'whoa'. Anyways, of course after much speculating of how the hell these books even GOT into the hall of Princes in the first place, we finally read the note.

I volunteered to read, it said...

_To myself(Darren) from the past(weird right?),_

_You know those diaries you(I)'ve been writing for the past god knows how many years? Well, here they are in full, I'm from a long way into the future, but I want to change this. I've got some help from Mr Tiny(I still can't believe he did that), and we decided that you, and a few other select people will help with the reading. You may find yourself in the company of some enemies and friends, but all your vampiric powers will be taken away(don't ask, I have no idea). _

_When you've finished reading this, the people will appear in the Hall of Princes, don't attack them. And you will start the reading of the diaries! _

_Yours,_

_Darren Shan_

I looked up to the see the faces of confusion, when suddenly there was bangs and much smoke. Coughing I shielded my eyes, until I heard a shout. Uncovering my eyes I saw a blur rushing towards me, when it quickly slowed down to a normal humans speed. I gasped when I saw it was my best, well, ex-best friend Steve Leopard(Leonard).

Among a cluster of people near the middle of the hall, there was Mr Crepsley, Steve, Kurda, Debbie, Harkat, Evra Von and of all people, my little sister, Annie.

There were many confrontations, but once we got another note telling us to get a move on with the books, that's what we did.

"Erm, I guess I'll go first then," I said, trying to sound brave, but that's kind of a hard thing to do with your sister who thinks you're dead, a girlfriend who you ran away from in the middle of the night, and a ex-best friend trying to kill you.

**Introduction**

**I've always been fascinated by spiders. I used to collect them when I was younger. I'd spend hours rooting through the dusty old shed at the bottom of our garden, hunting the cobwebs for lurking eight-legged predators. When I found one, i'd bring it in and let it loose in my bedroom.**

**It used to drive my mum mad!**

Annie started laughing, "oh my god, I remember that! Remember that time when-" I stood up, walked over to her and covered her mouth up, so she couldn't say any more.

"Annie, if I move my hand, you're not to say anything. Okay?" I could feel her nodding, so I let her go. I felt a tinge of nostalgia, I remember doing this when we were little, before, when things weren't complicated or dangerous.

I could feel everyone staring at me, so I carried on with the reading about my personal life and thoughts.

Yay.

**Usually the spider would slip away after no more than a day or two, never to be seen again, but sometimes they hung around longer. I had one who made a cobweb above my bed and stood sentry for almost a month. Going to sleep I used to imagine the spider creeping down, crawling into my mouth, sliding down my throat and laying loads of eggs in my belly. The baby spiders would hatch after a while and eat me alive, from the inside out.**

I looked up to see everyone staring a me strangely.

"what?" I asked, curiously.

"It's just, you have some weird thoughts, really weird thoughts," Debbie answered for everyone.

"Well, it's not like I knew I would be sitting here with you all, reading them!" I said, starting to get annoyed. How would they like it if they had their thoughts from when they were a kid on display for everyone, including enemies.

Mr Crepsley just coughed and told us that maybe we should carry on. So I did just that.

**I loved being scared when I was little.**

**When I was nine, my mum and dad gave me a small tarantula. It wasn't poisonous or **

**very big, but it was the greatest gift I'd ever received. I played with that spider almost every waking hour of the day. Gave it all sorts of treats: flies and cockroaches and tiny worms. Spoilt it rotten.**

**Then one day I did something stupid.**

Steve just snorted. I stared at him, then asked him what was so funny. He just glared at me and said, "When don't you do something stupid?", making me angry, but sadly for me and good for everyone else, before it could turn into a full out argument, Evra stepped in, taking the book out of my hands, and reading in my place.

**I'd been watching a cartoon in which one of the characters was sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. No harm came to him. He squeezed out of the bag, dusty and dirty and mad as hell. It was very funny.**

**So funny, I tried it myself. With the tarantula.**

Annie gasped and just said 'So that's what really happened, mum and dad told me it was a accident!'

Everyone else was either looking amused, disgusted or glaring. Guess who the glare was from. If you need more than one guess, you've failed.

Anyways, to try and stop the looks, I took the book from Evra and carried on reading.

**Needless to say, things didn't happen quite like they did in the cartoon. The spider was ripped to pieces. I cried a lot, but it was too late for tears. My pet was dead, it was my fault, and there was nothing I could do about it. **

**My parents nearly hollered the roof down when they found out what I'd done – the tarantula had cost quite a bit of money. They said I was a irresponsible fool, and form that day on they never again let me have a pet, not even an ordinary garden spider.**

" I remember that, you were so upset," Annie teased me. I just glared and denied everything. So I was a bit upset, who cares, I was nine. That's a acceptable age to cry at, right? Right.

Evra just stared at me and said, " but I thought you didn't like spiders, at least you never liked Madam Octa,"

"Yeah, well it's all her fault," I counter-argued.

Mr Crepsley looked affronted and tried to argue saying, " but you were the one that stole her," however, we soon got another note telling us to shut up, and read.

I'm starting to wonder how these notes know when to come down, but decided to just oblige and read.

**I started with that tale from the past for two reasons. One will become obvious as this book unfolds. The other reason is:**

_**This is a true story.**_

"Well, no duh. We wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't," Steve sneered. Everyone just glared at him until he shut up. Thank god, sometimes he goes on for ever about stuff that no one cares about.

**I don't expect you to believe me – I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't lived it – but it is. Everything I describe in this book happened, just as I tell it.**

"doesn't that make this book biased?" Kurda asked. I answered with a 'Not really, an anyway even if it is, we can correct it, we're going to change this anyway.'

And with that I carried on reading.

**The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid it normally cost you. In books, the heroes can make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn't matter what they do, because everything comes good in the end. They'll beat the bad guy and put things right and everything ends up hunky-dory.**

"is that even a word?" Evra asked everyone.

"Of course it is! Why would I use it other-wise?" I answered.

"Well, we all know you're weird and not normal, so no one's going to take your judgment on it," Debbie said, sticking her tongue out. How mature.

**In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall out of a tree, you break some bones.**

**Real life's nasty. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Evil often wins.**

**I just wanted to make that clear before I began.**

"God Shan, I think we get it. You hate 'real' life." Evra laughed. I just shrugged him off, and carried on reading.

**One more thing: my name isn't really Darren Shan.**

"What? Yes it is, this books confusing," I exclaimed. Mr Crepsley raised one of his eyebrows and said, maybe it was to confuse the readers, so they won't go looking for a 'Darren Shan'.

I decided to just accept that and kept reading.

**Everything's true in this book _except_ for names. I've had to change them because...well, by the time you get to the end, you'll understand.**

**I haven't used any real names, not mine, my sister's, my friends or teachers. Nobody's. I'm not even going to tell you the name of my town of country. I daren't. **

**Anyway, that's enough of a introduction. If you're ready, let's begin. If this was a made-up story, it would begin at night, with a storm blowing and owls hooting and rattling noises under the bed. **

**But this is a real story, so I have to begin where it really started.**

**It started in a toilet.**

I groaned. Why, out of anywhere, did it have to start here.

"Well, that's the end of that abnormally stupidly long introduction, who's up for reading the next chapter?" I asked to everyone, who were trying to not laugh. They probably thought they were covering it up well, but I could see it.

Annie volunteered to go next, so we started on the next chapter straight away.

**A/N: And that's that! God, I forgot how long the introduction was.! **

**Shan sure knows how to write. Lol**

**Anyways; the only characters involved will be, Darren, Annie, Debbie, Evra, Mr Crepsley, Steve and Harkat and Kurda.!**

**I hope you like it! Feedback would be great though! Even if they're in the form of flames, because flames keep me warm, and being warms good. Especially to roast marshmallows on :3**

**Peace. Love. Read. Write. ~Voldie **


	2. The Start of a Journey

**The Diaries of Darren Shan**

**Disclaimer**: I wish I was creative enough to come up with something as awesome as Darren Shan, but sadly I'm not, so no...no I don't own this!

**Warning:** In the words of River Song; 'Spoilers'

**A/N:** Hey, I want to thank you lovely people that reviewed! So special thanks to:

Wolf seeker

Ozuma thy Awesome

SUSHIxMONSTER

roxypony

heiditiger

You're totally awesome!

So, without further ado, I bring you Chapter 2 of 'The Diaries of Darren Shan'(bear with, they will get better!'

**~Voldie**

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><p><p>

**Chapter 2 – Chapter One**

_Well, that's the end of that abnormally stupidly long introduction, who's up for reading the next chapter?" I asked to everyone, who were trying to not laugh. They probably thought they were covering it up well, but I could see it. _

_Annie volunteered to go next, so we started on the next chapter straight away. ._

**I was on the toilet at school, sitting down, humming a song. I had my trousers on.**

"That makes it sound worse than it was," I grumbled. Everyone else was laughing at me, apart from Steve. Surprise surprise.

**I'd come in at the end of English class, feeling sick. My teacher, Mr Dalton, is great about things like that. He's smart and knows when you're faking and when you're being serious. He took one look at me when I raised my hand and said I was ill, then nodded his head and told me to make for the toilet.**

"**Throw up whatever's bugging you, Darren," he said, "Then get your behind back here."**

**I wish every teacher was as understanding as Mr Dalton.**

Steve sighed, "He really was a good teacher." Everyone but me and Annie stared at him, shocked. Obviously he hadn't ever said anything remotely nice or not to do with killing, when in their company. What a shocker.

"Just because you were teachers pet," I teased. It didn't go down well with him, I got a glare and a 'Shut up, Shan. I wasn't a teacher's pet, and under no obligation, are you allowed to talk to me!"

I guess it was too soon for that then.

**In the end I didn't get sick, but still felt queasy, so I stayed on the toilet. **

Evra raised a eyebrow and said, "I'm thinking you've got a little something with that toilet, Darren,"

Arghh, why did the toilet keep coming up!

**I heard the bell ring for the end of class and everybody came rushing out for lunch break. I wanted to join them, but I knew Mr Dalton would give out if he saw me in the yard so soon.**

"He really would," Annie said.

**He doesn't get mad if you trick him, but he goes quiet and won't speak to you for ages, and that's almost worse than being shouted at. **

**So, there I was, humming, watching my watch, waiting. Then I heard someone calling my name.**

"**Darren! Hey, Darren! Have you fallen in or what?" **

"And enter the amazing-ness that is The One Known As Steve!" Steve shouted, standing up.

Mr Crepsley just told him to sit down and that 'amazing-ness' wasn't a word. That got us all laughing.

**I grinned.**

**It was Steve Leopard, my best friend. **

"Ex," we both said under our breaths.

**Steve's real surname was Leonard, but everyone called him Steve Leopard. And not just because the names sound alike. Steve used to be what my mum calls 'a wild child'. He raised hell wherever he went, got into fights, stole in shops. **

**One day – he was still in a pushchair – he found a sharp stick and prodded passing women with it(no prizes for guessing where he stuck it!)**

**He was feared and despised wherever he went. But not by me. **

"Bet you fear me now, huh?" I smirked over at me.

"Not a chance," I narrowed my eyes.

**I've been his best friend since Montessori, where we first met. My mum says I was drawn to his wilderness, but I just thought he was a great guy to be with. He had a fierce temper, and threw scary tantrums when he lost it, but I simply ran away when that happened and came back when he'd calmed down.**

**Steve's reputation had softened over the years – his mum took him to see a lot of good counsellors who taught him how to control himself - but he was still a minor legend in the school yard and not someone you messed with, even if you were bigger and older than him.**

"**Hey Steve," I called back. "I'm in here." I hit the door so he'd know which one I was behind.**

**He hurried over and I opened the door. He smiled when he saw me sitting down with my trousers on. **

"**Did you puke?" he asked.**

"**No." I said. **

"**Do you think you're gonna?"**

"**Maybe," I said. Then I leaned forward all of a sudden and made a sick noise. Bluuurgh! But Steve Leopard knew me too well to be fooled.**

"**Give my boots a polish while you're down there," he said, and laughed while I pretended to spit on his shoes and rub them with a sheet of toilet paper.**

"**Did I miss anything in class?" I asked, sitting up.**

"**Nah," he said. "The usual crap."**

"**Did you do the history homework?" I asked.**

"**It doesn't have to be done until tomorrow, does it?" he asked, getting worried. Steve's always forgetting about homework.**

"**The day after tomorrow," I told him.**

"**Oh," he said, relaxing. "Even better. I thought..." he stopped and frowned. "Hold on ," he said. "Today's Thursday. The day after tomorrow would be..."**

"**Got you!" I yelled, punching him on the arm.**

"That was funny!" I laughed, remembering the look on his face. He just glared at me, while everyone else just looked shocked at how casual the conversation in the book was.

"**Ow!" he shouted. "That hurt." he rubbed his arm but I could tell he wasn't really hurt. "Are you coming out?" he asked then.**

"**I thought I'd stay here and admire the view," I said, leaning back on the toilet seat.**

"It really was a great view," I sighed, pretending to reminisce.

"**Quit messing," he said. "We were five-one down when I came in. We're probably six or seven down now. We need you." he was talking about football. We play a game every lunchtime. My team normally wins but we'd lost a lot of our best players. Dave Morgan broke his leg. Sam White transferred to another school when his family moved. And Danny Curtain had stopped playing in order to spend lunch hanging out with Sheila Leigh, the girl he fancies. Idiot!**

"How does that make him a idiot, Darren?" Debbie asked me. I could hear the warning tone in her voice, so I decided to just pretend that I hadn't hear her. I'm now currently sporting a aching arm. Note to self, don't piss off Debbie Hemlock!

**I'm our best full-forward. There are better defenders and mid-fielders, and Tommy Jones is the best goalkeeper in the whole school. But I'm the only one who can stand up and score four or five times a day without fail.**

"Big Ego much?" Annie asked, joking.

"**OK," I said, standing. "I'll save you. I've scored a hat trick every day this week. It would be a pity to stop now."**

**We passed the older guys – smoking around the sinks as usual – and hurried to my locker so I could change into my trainers. I used to have a great pair, which I won in a writing competition. But the laces snapped a few months ago and the rubber along the sides started to fall off. And then my feet grew! The pair I have now are OK but they're not the same.**

**We were eight-three down when I got on the pitch. It wasn't a real pitch, just a long stretch of yard with painted goal posts at either end. Whoever painted them was a right idiot. He put the crossbar too high at one end and too low at the other!**

"They never repainted that," Annie comments.

I soaked it in, I love hearing anything about my home town, or my old life. Feeling vaguely homesick, I motioned for Annie to continue reading.

"**Never fear, Hotshot Shan is here!" **

Evra and Mr Crepsley turned to me, each with a eyebrow raised. It was kind of creepy.

"Hotshot Shan?" Evra asked me, trying to muffle his laughter. I just glared at him. This was from when I was younger. It's not like I call myself that...any more.

**I shouted as I ran onto the pitch. A lot of players laughed or groaned, but I could see my team mates picking up and our opponents growing worried.**

**I made a great start and scored two goals inside a minute. It looked like we might come back to draw or win. But time ran out. If I'd arrived earlier we'd have been OK but the bell rang just as I was hitting my stride, so we lost nine-seven.**

**As we were leaving the pitch, Alan Morris ran into the yard, panting and red-faced. They're my three best friends. Steve Leopard, Tommy Jones and Alan Morris. We must be the oddest four people in the whole world, because only one of us – Steve – had a nickname.**

"That's not that strange," Evra said. "I know loads of people that have nick names that no one else has."

I looked over to him, "It was strange by my standards back then," I told him.

"**Look what I found!" Alan yelled, waving a soggy piece of paper under our noses.**

"**What is is?" Tommy asked, trying to grab it.**

"**It's -" Alan began, but stopped when Mr Dalton shouted at us.**

"**Your four! Inside!" he roared.**

"**We're coming, Mr Dalton!" Steve roared back. Steve is Mr Dalton's favourite and gets away with stuff the rest of us couldn't do. Like when he uses swear words sometimes in his stories. If I put in some of the words Steve had, I'd have been kicked out long ago.**

"Pity," Steve sneered at me. Guess he's still angry about me saving his life.

**But Mr Dalton has a soft spot for Steve, because he's special. Sometimes he's brilliant in class and gets everything right, while other times he can't even spell his own name. Mr Dalton says he's a bit of a idiot savant, which means he's a stupid genius!**

**Anyway, even though he's Mr Dalton's pet, **

"I WASN'T HIS PET!" Steve shouted at us. He was. No way would anyone else have got away with the stuff he did.

**Not even Steve can get away with turning up late for class. So whatever Alan had, it would have to wait. We trudged back to class, sweaty and tired after the game, and began our next lesson. **

**Little did I know that Alan's mysterious piece of paper was to change my life forever. For the Worse!**

"For the worse?" Mr Crepsley asked me. Oh crap.

"Weeelll, if you look at it my way, i've almost been killed many times, I lost my best friend, and I seem to have made many people want to kill me. For all the perks, I'd still say it was for the worse." I said. I couldn't help but wonder what my life would've been like if I hadn't gone to the Cirque, or spied on Steve. Crap, that's going to be in the book!

"Hey, Darren, you all right? You're kinda spacing out there." Evra said, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Yeah I'm cool," I said, "Whose reading next?" I asked.

"I will," Evra volunteered. Annie threw the book at him which he caught at just before it collided with his head, and started to read.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out! But i've had some trouble with my internet over the past 2 weeks. But i'm hoping it's all fixed now! -crosses fingers-**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Feedback would be appreciated, constructive criticism is welcomed, but flames I will throw back at you! Lol**

**Review? -puppy dog eyes-**

**;3**

**~Voldie**


	3. Update and Thanks

First of all..please don't AK me. Or eat me. Or burn me...or any other means of killing me that you can think of. I have valid reasons and I have terrible excuses.

First of all, I had no internet for around 3 weeks, then it was on/off.

I had my laptop taken away for a couple of days.

Stupid writers block

And finally, the pain of having my laptop wiped, so I no longer have the chapters I wrote, meaning i'll have to type out the book chapters+actual reactions and stuff.

So, hopefully i'll be able to do this amazing saga justice. And I send out my love and butterfly kisses complete with rainbow unicorns out to everyone who has reviewed/faved/subbed etc.

I'm also working on some Harry Potter stuff. But my writing style is to write something, leave it for 2 weeks, go back to it and edit it then go back to it in a couple of days. It improves my writing style in mahooooosive ways.

Anyways, peace out my little minions, see ya on the other side.


	4. Mr Dalton, Insults and Fantasies, Oh My

**Reading the Diaries of Darren Shan**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Darren Shan, if I did I would be fangirling over the fact that I managed to get John C Reilly in my film. But I don't. Although there's still fangirling happening.**

**Warning: If you haven't read the whole series, there WILL be spoilers included! **

**A/N: Like I said, I'm REALLY sorry and I don't even have a good excuse. So what I did is I forced myself to write this, determined to get it done before the year was out. Admitadly it is NOT my best work. Perhaps one day I'll re-do it. But hopefully it'll do, ey?**

**So. Thank you for putting up with my terrible lateness. Enjoy!**

**A MAHOOOOSIVE Thank you to anyone who's reviewed/alerted/favourited etc. It made me all smiley.**

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>Chapter 3 – Chapter Two<p><p>

"_Hey, Darren, you all right? You're kinda spacing out there." Evra said, waving his hand in front of my face._

"_Yeah I'm cool," I said, "Whose reading next?" I asked._

"_I will," Evra volunteered. Annie threw the book at him which he caught at just before it collided with his head, and started to read._

We all settled down and watched as Evra found the right page and began to read from where Annie left off.

**We had Mr Dalton again after lunch, for history. We were studying World War II. I wasn't too keen on it, but Steve thought it was great. **

"Yeah, probably because all the blood and killing that happened." I said, my voice full of contempt. Surprisingly Steve didn't rise to the bait; he just glared at me from across the room and gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in like a life-line. I raised an eyebrow at my ex-best friend whilst Evra hurried on reading, hoping to avoid a fight between the two former friends.

**He loved anything to do with killing and war. He often said he wanted to be a mercenary soldier – one who fights for money – when he grew up. And he meant it!**

"Well, I guess that didn't work out too well.." Stever trailed off, looking thoughtful.

**We had maths after history, and – incredibly – Mr Dalton for a third time! Our usual maths teacher was off sick, so others had been filling in for him best they could all day.**

**Steve was in seventh heaven. His favourite teacher, three classes in a row! It was the first time we'd had Mr Dalton for maths, so Steve started showing off, telling him where we were in the book, explaining some of the trickier problems as though speaking to a child. Mr Dalton didn't mind. He was used to Steve and knew exactly how to handle him.**

"Imagine if he was here now, then?" I grinned, fantasizing about Mr Dalton getting Steve to...wash his car or something. Why he would have his car, I have no idea...Ooh, I can see it now! The looks on the Vampire's faces when they see an old, battered up car attempting to drive up the mountain with a red-faced Mr Dalton at the wheel, shouting at Steve. That would be great. I was pulled out of my head when something hit me on the head. Hard. Knowing immediately who it was, I smirked and threw the blue bouncy ball back at Annie's head, right on target. I pulled an innocent face, before we both burst into laughter. Of course, Mr Crepsley being the buzz-kill that he was just rolled his eyes and told us to stop laughing so we could get on with the story. And so on Evra went.

**Normally Mr Dalton runs a tight ship – his classes are fun but we always come out of them having learned something – but he wasn't very good at maths. He tried hard but we could tell he was in over his head, and while he was busy trying to come to grips with things – his head buried in the maths book, Steve by his side making 'helpful' suggestions **

"Pfft, 'helpful suggestions' my arse. You were talking about the logistics of Vampires!" I said, rolling my eyes, earning Steve's ever-present glare to be directed at me.

– **the rest of us began to fidget and talk softly to each other and pass notes around.**

**I sent a note to Alan, asking to see the mysterious piece of paper he'd brought in. he refused at first to pass it around, but I kept sending notes and finally he gave in. Tommy sits just two seats over from him, so he got it first. He opened it up and began studying it. His face lit up while he was reading and his jaw slowly dropped. When he passes it on to me – having read it three times – I soon saw why.**

**It was a flyer, and advertising pamphlet for some sort of travelling circus. There was a picture of a wolf's head at the top. The wolf had its mouth open and saliva was dripping from its teeth. **

Evra and I shuddered, remembering Sam and the Wolf Man's freakish face, just as it was described in the book.

**At the bottom there were pictures of a spider and a snake, and they looked vicious too.**

"Madam Octa." Mr Crepsley half-smiled, thinking of his beloved, deadly pet spider.

**Just beneath the wolf, in big red capital letters were the words: **

_**CIRQUE DU FREAK**_

**Underneath that, in smaller writing:**

_**For one week only – CIRQUE DU FREAK **_

_**SEE:**_

_**Sive and Seersa – The Twisting Twins!**_

_**The Snake Boy! **_

"Great. 'Snake Boy'. No 'Evra and his fantastic snake'" Evra grumbled, before continuing with the book.

_**The Wolf Man! Gertha Teeth!**_

_**Larten Crepsley and His Performing Spider – Madam Octa!**_

_**Alexander Ribs! The Bearded Lady! Hans Hands!**_

_**Rhamus Twobellies – Worlds Fattest man!**_

**Beneath all that was a address where you could buy tickets and find out where the show was playing. And right at the bottom, just above the pictures of the snake and spider:**

_**NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED!**_

_**CERTAIN RESERVATIONS APPLY!**_

"**Cirque du Freak?" I muttered softly to myself. Cirque was French for circus...Circus of Freaks! Was this a freak show? It looked like it.**

"Well done for figuring that out all by yourself!" Annie said, a smile on a her face letting me know she was just teasing. This inspired laughter from both Mr Crepsley and Evra. Steve tried to hide his smile. I could tell. But it just ended up with him doing this weird half grimace.

**I began reading the flyer again, immersed in the drawings and descriptions of the performers. In fact, I was so immersed I forgot about Mr Dalton. I only remembered him when I realized the room was silent. I looked up, and saw Steve standing alone at the head of the class. He stuck out his tongue at me and grinned. Feeling the hairs on the back of my neck prickle, I stared over my shoulder and there was Mr Dalton, standing behind me, reading the flyer, lips tight.**

"**What is this?" he snapped, snatching the paper from my hands.**

"**It's a advert, sir," I answered.**

"Smart-arse." Steve sneered. I just ignored him, paying attention to Evra.

"**Where'd you get it?" he asked. He looked really angry. I'd never seen him this worked up. "Where'd you get it." he asked again.**

**I licked my lips nervously. I didn't know how to answer. I wasn't going to drop Alan in the soup – and I knew he wouldn't own up by himself: even Alan's best friends know he's not the bravest in the world – but my mind was stuck in low gear, and I couldn't think of a reasonable lie. Luckily Steve stepped in.**

"Oh, the days when you were willing to be nice!" Darren said, dramatically, clutching his hands to his chest, above his heart. Steve sneered at him and said, 'Yeah, whatever'. Lovely boy, isn't he? Oh well. At least it gained smiles from Annie, Evra and even Mr Crepsley!

"**Sir, it's mine," he said.**

"**Yours?" Mr Dalton blinked slowly.**

"**I found it near the bus stop, sir," Steve said. "Some old guy threw it away. I thought it looked interesting, so I picked it up. I was going to ask you about it later, at the end of class."**

"**Oh." Mr Dalton tried not to look flattered but I could tell he was. "That's different. Nothing wrong with and inquisitive mind. Sit down Steve." Steve sat. Mr Dalton stuck a bit of blue-tack on the flyer and pinned it to the blackboard. **

"**Long ago," he said, tapping the flyer, "There used to be real freak shows. Greedy con men crammed malformed people in cages and-"**

"**Sir, what's malformed mean?" somebody asked.**

"**Someone who doesn't look ordinary," Mr Dalton said. "A person with three arms or two noses; somebody with no legs; somebody very short or very tall. The con men put these poor people – who were no different to you or me, except in looks – on display and called them freaks. They charged the public to stare at them, and invited them to laugh and tease. They treated the so-called 'freaks' like animals. Paid them little, beat them, dressed them in rags, never allowed them to wash."**

"**That's cruel sir," Delaina Price - a girl near the front – said. **

"Not all 'Freak Shows' are like that." Mr Crepsley said.

"**Yes," he agreed. "Freak shows were cruel, monstrous creations. That's why I got angry when I saw this." He tore down the flyer. "they were banned years ago, but every so often you'll hear a rumour that they're still going strong."**

"**Do you think the Cirque du Freak is a real freak show?" I asked. **

"Yes. Yes it is," I answered myself.

**Mr Dalton studied the flyer again, then shook his head. "I doubt it," he said. "Probably just a cruel hoax. Still," he added, "If it was real, I hope nobody here would dream of going."**

"**Oh, no, sir," we all said quickly.**

"Oooh, liars!" Annie chuckled.

"**Because freak shows were terrible," he said. "they pretended to be like proper circuses but they were cesspits of evil. Anybody who went to one would be just as bad as the people running it."**

"**You'd have to be real twisted to go to one of those, sir," Steve agreed. And then he looked at me, winked and mouthed the words: "We're going!"**

"So, Steve just insulted himself then?" Evra finished off, laughing."

"Why of course," I said, mock-seriously, ignoring Steve's protests. "He loves to insult himself!"

Mr Crepsley took the book from Evra, thinking that maybe throwing insults Steve's way probably wasn't the best thing to do.****

**-**

**A/N: So yeah. That's done. Finally..**

**Now, I hate it when people ask for reviews. So much...Because if you write Fanfiction, it should be for fun.**

**But I'd appreciate feedback..or..something.**

**[.]**


	5. In which there are things

I am so ridiculously sorry that I haven't updated, and that I probably never will. It's partly because I'm busy with college, volunteering and uni applications, but mostly because I'm too lazy and my writing style has changed.

I also apologise for the shocking spelling of 'admittedly' in the last chapter. Just..wow.

However, feel free to hit me up on tumblr(links on my profile) or if you like stories about God before our existence battling evil societies with names you can't pronounce, then keep an eye out on my fictionpress, ao3 and tumblr accounts as that's my story for NaNoWriMo.

Thanks, and much love for your fantabulous reviews,

C-B \\/


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